EU ministers scramble to salvage US trade deal

The ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (or TTIP)-- as the free trade deal between the European Union and United States is known -- would create the world’s biggest market of 850 million consumers stretching from Hawaii to Lithuania.

But defending free trade deals has become increasingly fraught for leaders, with the rise of populists such as US presidential candidate Donald Trump blaming globalisation for stolen jobs and falling wages. 
TTIP, under negotiation since 2013, has become a hot potato as key elections approach in the United States, France and Germany, with the goal of sealing the agreement by the end of the Obama administration all but abandoned.

There are deep-seated fears in Europe that the deal would undercut the 28-nation bloc’s standards in key areas such as health and welfare.
“Negotiations are continuing,” said Cecilia Malmstroem, the EU commissioner for trade who is leading the talks with the US.

The ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (or TTIP)-- as the free trade deal between the European Union and United States is known -- would create the world’s biggest market of 850 million consumers stretching from Hawaii to Lithuania.

But defending free trade deals has become increasingly fraught for leaders, with the rise of populists such as US presidential candidate Donald Trump blaming globalisation for stolen jobs and falling wages. 
TTIP, under negotiation since 2013, has become a hot potato as key elections approach in the United States, France and Germany, with the goal of sealing the agreement by the end of the Obama administration all but abandoned.
There are deep-seated fears in Europe that the deal would undercut the 28-nation bloc’s standards in key areas such as health and welfare.
“Negotiations are continuing,” said Cecilia Malmstroem, the EU commissioner for trade who is leading the talks with the US.